A 48-year-old Portland man was arraigned in court Wednesday on two counts of felony murder, accused of fatally shooting a 24-year-old man inside his Southeast Portland home in 1995 in the course of a burglary and robbery, according to court records.

The 18-year-old homicide was solved through witness statements, and with the help of a team of young Multnomah County misdemeanor prosecutors who were given the chance to dig into unsolved city homicide files to assist investigators, according to Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill.

Conner is accused of fatally shooting Darrin Ezell, 24, about 7:20 a.m. on Dec. 20, 1995. Ezell was killed while sleeping inside his
home, located in the 9300 block of Southeast Ramona Street.

His girlfriend had just left for work, leaving her two young children in the home at the time. The children, then ages 3 and d6, were home at the time of the homicide but were not harmed.

As the girlfriend pulled away from the home in her car, though, several men in another car forced her to stop. One grabbed her key ring with her apartment keys, police said at the time of the incident. She was held at gunpoint for about 40 minutes in her car, according to police.

According to the Cold Case Homicide Unit, three masked men entered the
apartment and robbed Ezell and then shot him before leaving. Ezell was believed to be involved in gambling and drug
dealing, according to the cold case investigators.

Police did not say whether anyone else has been linked to the Ezell killing.

Anyone
with additional information about this case is asked to contact
Detective Meredith Hopper at (503) 823-0266 or
meredith.hopper@portlandoregon.gov.